Internationaw trade is de exchange of capitaw, goods, and services across internationaw borders or territories.[1] In most countries, such trade represents a significant share of gross domestic product (GDP). Whiwe internationaw trade has existed droughout history (for exampwe Uttarapada, Siwk Road, Amber Road, scrambwe for Africa, Atwantic swave trade, sawt roads), its economic, sociaw, and powiticaw importance has been on de rise in recent centuries. Carrying out trade at an internationaw wevew is a more compwex process dan domestic trade. Trade takes pwace between two or more nations. Factors wike de economy, government powicies, markets, waws, judiciaw system, currency, etc. infwuence de trade. The powiticaw rewations between two countries awso infwuences de trade between dem. Sometimes, de obstacwes in de way of trading affect de mutuaw rewationship adverswy. To avoid dis, internationaw economic and trade organisations came up. To smooden and justify de process of trade between countries of different economic standing, some internationaw economic organisations were formed. These organisations work towards de faciwitation and growf of internationaw trade.

Trading gwobawwy gives consumers and countries de opportunity to be exposed to new markets and products. Awmost every kind of product can be found in de internationaw market: food, cwodes, spare parts, oiw, jewewry, wine, stocks, currencies, and water. Services are awso traded: tourism, banking, consuwting, and transportation, uh-hah-hah-hah. A product dat is transferred or sowd from a party in one country to a party in anoder country is an export from de originating country, and an import to de country receiving dat product. Imports and exports are accounted for in a country's current account in de bawance of payments.[2]

Industriawization, advanced technowogy, incwuding transportation, gwobawization, muwtinationaw corporations, and outsourcing are aww having a major impact on de internationaw trade system. Increasing internationaw trade is cruciaw to de continuance of gwobawization, uh-hah-hah-hah. Nations wouwd be wimited to de goods and services produced widin deir own borders widout internationaw trade. Internationaw trade is, in principwe, not different from domestic trade as de motivation and de behavior of parties invowved in a trade do not change fundamentawwy regardwess of wheder trade is across a border or not. The main difference is dat internationaw trade is typicawwy more costwy dan domestic trade. This is due to de fact dat a border typicawwy imposes additionaw costs such as tariffs, time costs due to border deways, and costs associated wif country differences such as wanguage, de wegaw system, or cuwture.

Anoder difference between domestic and internationaw trade is dat factors of production such as capitaw and wabor are typicawwy more mobiwe widin a country dan across countries. Thus, internationaw trade is mostwy restricted to trade in goods and services, and onwy to a wesser extent to trade in capitaw, wabour, or oder factors of production, uh-hah-hah-hah. Trade in goods and services can serve as a substitute for trade in factors of production, uh-hah-hah-hah. Instead of importing a factor of production, a country can import goods dat make intensive use of dat factor of production and dus embody it. An exampwe of dis is de import of wabor-intensive goods by de United States from China. Instead of importing Chinese wabor, de United States imports goods dat were produced wif Chinese wabor. One report in 2010 suggested dat internationaw trade was increased when a country hosted a network of immigrants, but de trade effect was weakened when de immigrants became assimiwated into deir new country.[3]

Data on de vawue of exports and imports and deir qwantities often broken down by detaiwed wists of products are avaiwabwe in statisticaw cowwections on internationaw trade pubwished by de statisticaw services of intergovernmentaw and supranationaw organisations and nationaw statisticaw institutes. The definitions and medodowogicaw concepts appwied for de various statisticaw cowwections on internationaw trade often differ in terms of definition (e.g. speciaw trade vs. generaw trade) and coverage (reporting dreshowds, incwusion of trade in services, estimates for smuggwed goods and cross-border provision of iwwegaw services). Metadata providing information on definitions and medods are often pubwished awong wif de data.